Bodhisattva Manjushri in Black and White

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Item Code:	TP83
Specifications:	Tibetan Thangka Painting
Dimensions	Size of Painted Surface 13.0 inches X 17.0 inches Size with Brocade 22.0 inches X 33.0 inches

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Manjushri is the bodhisattva of transcendental wisdom and knowledge. He is the manifestation of the wisdom of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Manjushri is the Buddhist counterpart of the Brahmanical god Brahma, who is also depicted with a scripture (the Vedas). Manjushri confers knowledge, intelligence, and retentive memory on his worshippers. The position occupied by Manjushri in the Buddhist pantheon is one of the very highest. His mention as a bodhisattva occurs earliest in the Buddhist texts. His worship is widely prevalent among the Buddhists of the Northern Buddhist countries. Manjushri is the patron deity of Nepalese Buddhism and is credited with draining the Kathmandu valley when it was great lake with a blow of his sword. As the totality of transcendent wisdom, Manjushri is identified with primordial Buddha Svayambhunath and is the root teacher of Nepale Buddhist Chakrasamvara practice. Those, who could not form any conception of him according to Tantric rites, attained perfection only by muttering his numerous mantras. Manjushri is believed to have been a wandering ascetic and the Gandavyuha Sutra records the tradition that he came out of Pratishthanakutagraha and accompanied by Bodhisattvas of his status and other divinities, led his journey to Dakshinapatha. Further it is also mentioned in the text about an assembly at Jetavana in which Manjushri, Samantabhadra, five thousand Bodhisattvas and Mahashravakas participated along with Buddha. A Chinese tradition records that Gautama Buddha had informed Manjushri of his duty to turn the wheel of Law for the salvation of the Chinese and choose Panchshira (five-peaked) mountain in Shan-si province in china as his place of manifestation. The association of Manjushri with China is also mentioned in the Svayambhu Purana. The Purana mentioned that Manjushri which was his abode to Svayambhunath kshetra in order to pay his respect to Adi-Buddha who had manifested himself in lake Kalihrada, this is now the Nepal valley. Manjushri erected a temple over the flame of fire and on a hillock nearby he made his own abode, and also a vihara still known as the Manjupattana. Manjushri stayed there sometime and thereafter he returned home. This tradition has led some scholars to propound the view that Manjushri was a historical character.

Aryamanjushri-mulakalpa and Sadhanamala describe a number of distinctive forms of Manjushri for worship and sadhana. The present form of Manjushri is known as Arapachana. Several sadhanas in the Sadhanamala describe this form of Manjushri. In this form he is to be seated in vajraparyankasana with two hands, right hand upraised with wisdom sword and the left with a manuscript, generally held near the chest, but in many manifestations he does not carry the scripture or book against the chest, but holds the stem of a lotus, which bears the book. When he holds manuscript near the chest, he is accompanied by the four divinities, Keshini, Upakeshini, Chandraprabha and Suryaprabha and as the group of five originates from the five syllables, 'A', 'R', 'P', 'C' and 'N', the principal deity is called Arapachana. Each syllable of Arapachana Manjushri's mantra has a symbolic meaning. The symbolism of the letters is explained below:

A is the essence of all Dharma because it is un-produced in the beginning

RA is the head of all Dharma because it is free from defilements

PA is the chief of all Dharma because it expounds ultimate truth

CA is the head of all Dharma because of the no-perception of disease and rebirth

NA is the chief of all Dharma because it is from name (and form). Thus these powerful five syllables, as mentioned above, are personified in the form of Arapachana Manjushri as the highest embodiment of the knowledge of all Buddhas. The ARAPACHANA syllabary is mentioned in early Mahayana sutras, the Lalitavistara, the Gandavyuha, and Prajnaparamita.

In this painting Arapachana Manjushri is seated in vajraparyankasana on moon disk on a lotus flower. He has a smiling face and brandishes a flaming wisdom sword in his right hand, and the left holds a stem of lotus flower which bears the book. His hair is partially up in a knot and partially down on his shoulders. He wears an elaborate crown and ornaments of a prince with precious gemstones. There is an aureole behind his body and turquoise halo behind his head. Amitabha Buddha is seated in the top centre, while the bottom centre depicts auspicious peaceful offerings. On the top corners are the two Taras and at the bottom Chenrezig and Vajrapani. This black and white painting is suitable for sadhana and practices.

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Unveiling the Divine Art: Journey into the Making of Thangkas

A Thangka is a traditional Tibetan Buddhist painting that usually depicts a Buddhist Deity (Buddha or Bodhisattva), a scene, or a mandala. These paintings are considered important paraphernalia in Buddhist rituals. They are used to teach the life of the Buddha, various lamas, and Bodhisattvas to the monastic students, and are also useful in visualizing the deity while meditating. One of the most important subjects of thangkas is the Bhavacakra (the wheel of life) which depicts the Art of Enlightenment. It is believed that Thangka paintings were developed over the centuries from the murals, of which only a few can be seen in the Ajanta caves in India and the Mogao caves in Gansu Province, Tibet. Thangkas are painted on cotton or silk applique and are usually small in size. The artist of these paintings is highly trained and has a proper understanding of Buddhist philosophy, knowledge, and background to create a realistic and bona fide painting.

The process of making a thangka begins with stitching a loosely woven cotton fabric onto a wooden frame. Traditionally, the canvas was prepared by coating it with gesso, chalk, and base pigment.

After this, the outline of the form of the deity is sketched with a pencil or charcoal onto the canvas using iconographic grids. The drawing process is followed in accordance with strict guidelines laid out in Buddhist scriptures. The systematic grid helps the artist to make a geometrical and professional painting. When the drawing of the figures is finalized and adjusted, it is then outlined with black ink.

Earlier, a special paint of different colors was made by mixing powdered forms of organic (vegetable) and mineral pigments in a water-soluble adhesive. Nowadays, artists use acrylic paints instead. The colors are now applied to the sketch using the wet and dry brush techniques. One of the characteristic features of a thangka is the use of vibrant colors such as red, blue, black, green, yellow, etc.

In the final step, pure gold is coated over some parts of the thangka to increase its beauty. Due to this beautification, thangkas are much more expensive and also stand out from other ordinary paintings.

Thangka paintings are generally kept unrolled when not on display on the wall. They also come with a frame, a silken cover in front, and a textile backing to protect the painting from getting damaged. Because Thangkas are delicate in nature, they are recommended to be kept in places with no excess moisture and where there is not much exposure to sunlight. This makes them last a long time without their colors fading away. Painting a thangka is an elaborate and complex process and requires excellent skills. A skilled artist can take up to 6 months to complete a detailed thangka painting. In earlier times, thangka painters were lamas that spent many years on Buddhist studies before they painted.

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